


In which; flour is stolen, Goliyath discovers a clock, a symbol from the Correspondence is read, lodgings are changed

by LetsJustWrite



Category: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Clocks, Gen, Nightmares, The Correspondence (Fallen London), dripstone-snared temple, look the time in fl is weird and so there's this clock now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29217258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetsJustWrite/pseuds/LetsJustWrite
Summary: Goliyath goes in search of thieving rats and finds a clock instead.





	In which; flour is stolen, Goliyath discovers a clock, a symbol from the Correspondence is read, lodgings are changed

The clock is deep beneath their new lodgings and at first they do not notice it. It seeps into their nightmares almost at once, but so many things do and they do not put the pieces together later.

When they find the clock it is evening-the sun would be sinking behind the blackened factories and silt-tainted Thames of London Above-and they are looking for the rats who have been stealing their flour. As a general rule they like rats, but they cannot let anyone steal from them (unless they can't help it) and so their pistol is hung on their belt, though they only mean to use it as a tool to scare the rats away.

At first they think they ticking of the clock is the gnashing of rats' teeth. (Even after they discover the clock it sounds to them more like teeth gnashing or bones clacking than a metal mechanic.) But they walk deeper and deeper below the temple and the sound grows louder until it becomes so loud they cannot deny they know it is no rat. They take their pistol out of their belt and walk on.

At first they cannot tell it is a clock. It fills an area that is larger than the wall was in their old boarding house and its' bone-clacking ticking shakes the ground. They shift their weight and blink until they catch sight of half of a symbol-a symbol of the Correspondence. A colossal iron lever swings to touch the symbol and they realise it is the hand of a clock and the symbols are- not numbers. They are not sure what they are or if the clock even marks time.

They leave then, back up to the sumptuous bed they spent too much money on, but they twist and turn all night, waking up sweating, shivering, crying and by the time morning comes they have firmly decided to move out to the room above Patterly's a friend recommended to them. 

But they will keep these lodgings. There would be no harm done in renting them out to a tenant warned about the nightmares, but there is so much that can be learned from the clock, they are sure, and they need free access to it. While knowledge should be shared- they cannot share what they don't know. Yet.


End file.
